Set nearly two decades after England has capitulated to Hitler's Germany, the novel comprises two narrative strands: the first-person account of Elvira Royston, a debutante about to be presented to Queen Margaret; and a third-person chronicle about her ward, Peter Carmichael, commander of Britain's secret police force.

As she frets about her wardrobe and her best friend's marriage prospects, Elvira unwittingly becomes entangled with an enemy of the fascist government and ends up being arrested at a riot. It takes the political pull of her "uncle" to get her released, but neither she nor he is safe afterward. As a closeted gay man who has secretly uses his position to rescue thousands of Jews from concentration camps on the Continent, Carmichael hopes that he can save Elvira from the torture chamber but knows that he is risking everything else he cares about.

The previous volumes in the series played with the conventions of British mystery novels, but "Half a Crown" is less concerned with literary traditions than it is with expanding the series' themes and bringing everything to a satisfying conclusion. As Elvira and Carmichael struggle to save their lives and their souls, Walton orchestrates the end game with considerable finesse. This series stands as one of the canniest commentaries on the current war on terror, a gripping yarn in its own right but charged with a sad knowledge of how easily well-intentioned people can support evil.

On the night a mysterious stranger kills his parents and sister, a toddler escapes from the house and finds sanctuary in a cemetery. There he is adopted by a ghostly couple, accepted by the other revenants in residence and given the name Nobody Owens, or Bod, for short. As he grows up, he learns how to navigate among the living and the dead, venturing into an underground crypt where ancient magic awaits and dealing with the mundane menace of schoolyard bullies. Eventually, Bod realizes that he will have to venture beyond the graveyard's gates and face down the killer who took his family from him.

Although aimed primarily at younger readers, "The Graveyard Book" has enough heft to keep adults thoroughly engaged. The model for the story is, of course, "The Jungle Books," but Gaiman pays homage to Ray Bradbury, with perhaps a salute to Charles Addams tossed in for good measure. Bod's coming of age has its moments of wonder, terror and tenderness, and Gaiman hits exactly the right notes every time.

Jonathan Carroll also explores the nature of the afterlife in "The Ghost in Love" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 320 pages; $25). When Ben Gould slips while walking his dog and cracks his skull on the curb, he should by all rights be dead. He survives somehow, but that leaves his ghost, a female spirit called Ling, at loose ends and susceptible to the charms of Ben's girlfriend, German Landis.

The opening chapter of "The Ghost in Love" may strike some readers as a little twee, with Ling the ghost fussing about with an invisible meal while conversing with Pilot, Ben and German's faithful dog. But the plot darkens considerably as Ben learns what it means to be one of the few human beings on the planet whose destiny is truly his own.

The author of "White Apples," Carroll seems always on the verge of breaking out to a wider audience but never quite manages to take that next big step. With its neurotic-yet-lovable couple, wise animals and wonky metaphysics, "The Ghost in Love" is very much vintage Carroll and a decent starting point for readers new to his singular brand of contemporary fantasy.